Barcelona have as many divers as Chelsea. Lampard, Drogba, Anelka, Hazard and co. have all been accused of diving. All teams have players that dive. Hell the winning goal in the first leg of Chelsea's victory over Barcelona was scored during the added time Drogba earned by despicably faking multiple injuries. It's gamesmanship and it's up to the referees to spot it. Diving will continue until FIFA/UEFA/Individual Leagues choose to retroactively punish for it.

quote: and because they are lauded as the greatest team of all time but if not for one of the most disgracefully officiated games in sports history and the most disgraceful single referee decision in sports history they likely would have 0 CL titles with majority of their current squad.

Listen you dense idiot. That was a terribly refereed game, but the worst call of the night was this red card on Abidal after Anelka took a "Barcelona" dive.

Also you seem to forget that the core of Barcelona's current team were members of the 2006 Champions League team.

Barcelona are the only team to win three Champions League in the modern era of the competition. They should be lauded alongside Real Madrid of the 1950s, Ajax and Bayern Munich of the 1970s, and AC Milan of the 1980s as one of the greatest sides of all time.

quote:Also, they have somehow mind fricked everybody into thinking 750 square passes per game is "beautiful".

You obviously don't watch La Liga, or any other competition Barcelona competes in besides the Champions League. I'd hardly consider to call a team that sets multiple records in goals scored over a season boring. Maybe you confused Barcelona with the Spanish national team who are far more conservative in their goal scoring approach (partly because of the categorical advantage in midfielders and lack of in form #9s).

quote: Lampard, Drogba, Anelka, Hazard and co. have all been accused of diving.

Lampard, ha. Drogba, duh. Anelka, there's a reason nobody liked him. Hazard? I haven't seen Hazard dive once since he's been at Chelsea. Just get fouled non-stop because he's too good.

Still beating that Barca drum though? Good for you. Most people opened their eyes and got off that bandwagon a couple of years ago. Good to see you're still fighting the good fight.

quote:It's gamesmanship and it's up to the referees to spot it.

Not surprised you would have that attitude.

quote:Listen you dense idiot. That was a terribly refereed game, but the worst call of the night was this red card on Abidal after Anelka took a "Barcelona" dive.

Well you may have a point here if not for the small matter that Abidal should have been sent off MUCH earlier after clearly taking down Drogba from behind in the box. The first of three, if not four, clear penalties turned away. So again, you blow. There's a reason Ovrebo isn't reffing anymore. He was UEFA's scapegoat.

quote:Also you seem to forget that the core of Barcelona's current team were members of the 2006 Champions League team.

Puyol and Valdes are the only current members of Barca that played in that final. Yes, Xavi was a key member of the team but was hurt. So again, you dumb.

quote:You obviously don't watch La Liga, or any other competition Barcelona competes in besides the Champions League. I'd hardly consider to call a team that sets multiple records in goals scored over a season boring.

Fat boner, what good team wouldn't score in a two team league? Also, what records do you speak of? Because Madrid have the La Liga records for most goals.

I'm not lauding diving. It's the most annoying aspect of football, but players find ways to exploit the system. Until higher powers put a serious clampdown on it, besides giving cards for simulation, players will continue to deceive the one referee. Gerrard, hard and respected player, culpable to flopping. Same goes for a typically classy player like Lampard.

Chelsea advances if they hold the scoreline up a man. Maybe you should complain about a Essien (?) not clearing a poor Messi shot past a lurking Iniesta. Maybe you should complain about Drogba and Ballack not keeping their cool. Maybe Chelsea shouldn't have put 11 behind the ball in the first leg, and attempted to bag a crucial away goal. I've never heard a fanbase whine about something as much as that one game where Chelsea totally lost all mental fortitude.

I don't whine about 2011 Arsenal vs. Barcelona, because Arsenal had other opportunities to kill off that tie in both legs.

quote:Fat boner, what good team wouldn't score in a two team league? Also, what records do you speak of? Because Madrid have the La Liga records for most goals.

Barcelona scored 140 goals in all competitions last season, the most ever for a Spanish team. Real Madrid set the record for the most goals in league play last year.

Once again, if you actually watched La Liga, you would have a greater respect for the quality in sides like Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla etc.

I won't argue against the competitive imbalance, which is present. However almost all European leagues have powerhouse teams that dominate simply because of their financial power. Until the past three season, people questioned if a team other than Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man United would crack the Top 4 in England. Only five clubs have won the Premier League since its inception in 1992. It took a billion dollar investments by Sheikh Mansour and Roman Abramovich to lift that number past three different clubs.